The red-hot areas where house prices are rising (and falling) the fastest: Use our analysis to discover how YOUR neighbourhood is doing... plus the locations set to soar in 2026 | Retrui News | Retrui
The red-hot areas where house prices are rising (and falling) the fastest: Use our analysis to discover how YOUR neighbourhood is doing... plus the locations set to soar in 2026
SOURCE:Daily Mail
The property market has been hit by a mix of factors, including the end of the stamp duty holiday, stubborn mortgage rates and fears over property taxes.
Home buyers and sellers have had a torrid time this past year.
The property market has been hamstrung by a toxic mix of factors, including the end of the stamp duty holiday in April – which added thousands of pounds to a purchase – stubborn mortgage rates and fears the Chancellor would hike property taxes.
But a handful of pockets across England and Wales have bucked the trend and seen house prices soar.
In-depth analysis of official data by Money Mail has uncovered the hottest and coldest property markets in England and Wales in the year to September. Using Land Registry sales figures, we tracked house sales in all 317 local authorities.
We have ranked areas based on how much house prices have jumped annually and how much the number of homes sold has increased. These two metrics are a good gauge of how in-demand a postcode is for buyers.
Each area is labelled as 'very hot', 'hot', 'normal', 'cold' or 'very cold'.
We have drilled down even further in our online tool where you can see if your neighbourhood's property market is red hot – or ice cold. Simply enter your postcode to reveal how your area has fared this year.
Here's a look at the hottest – and coldest – property markets of the year, plus locations tipped to soar in 2026.
The RED-HOT areas
The hottest property market in the UK is Halton, an area in the north-east of Cheshire. It is one of three local authorities in England and Wales which is a 'red hot' market, according to our analysis.
The area is close to Manchester and Liverpool – making it ideal for commuters. Plus, it is awash with green space along the River Mersey, and has a castle and rich industrial heritage.
In demand: The hottest property market in the UK is Halton in the North East of Cheshire where house prices saw an 8.3% increase
Buyers snapped up homes for an average of £186,194 in the year to September – an 8.3 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
Estate agents say Cheshire is sought-after due to its range of amenities and limited housing stock.
Demand for homes in Halton fell by 3.3 per cent year-on-year but the fall was less pronounced than the average across England and Wales, our analysis finds.
The number of homes sold across all local authorities fell by 12.6 per cent.
All but two local authorities saw a dip in transactions in 2025 from the previous year because of market uncertainty.
Cheshire is expected to continue rising in popularity over the coming year as buyers who want a home in the exclusive Golden triangle flock to the market.
The neighbourhood, which is just a 37-minute drive from Manchester city centre, saw an 8.7 per cent drop in sales amid a stagnant national market but the homes that sold defied national trends.
Prices grew by an impressive 8.9 per cent to £203,871 in the year to September.
Drilling into the smaller neighbourhoods in the area reveals three parts of the local authority are running very hot – Hathershaw, Oldham Town North and Werneth.
David Fell, of estate agents Hamptons, explains that swathes of development in Manchester in the past two decades has made the city and its surrounding area a desirable location for young professionals and families alike.
Outer London area Barking and Dagenham ranked fifth and was given a 'hot' ranking. The number of sales fell by 4.2 per cent but sold house prices grew by 5.7 per cent to £358,531 – relatively affordable so close to the centre of London.
Popular: The second hottest property market is Oldham where sales fell 8.7% but prices grew by an impressive 8.9% to £203,871 in the year to September
Experts say these areas have been popular due to the large number of family homes available.
Our interactive tool found that smaller outer Londhandfordon areas such as Norwood Green South, in Ealing, South Tottenham and New Cross Gate in Lewisham made the top ten hot list. Meanwhile, expensive prime locations have fallen out of favour.
Buyers in the capital faced sky-high house prices and stretched affordability for years. It means house-hunters have been forced to turn to up-and-coming areas.
David Hollingworth, of broker London and Country, says: 'This trend is down to a mix of factors including affordability, the type of housing and the supply as well as location.
'The demand may be more focused on family homes here rather than flats and higher rise property in more central areas. Affordability and prices will always feature highly in a buyer's priority list.'
Areas that were popular in 2025 are likely to continue to do well next year but there is no guarantee as the market can fluctuate.
...and the coolest
The millionaires in London's most exclusive neighbourhoods including Westminster, Kensington and the City may have thought their glamorous homes were safe from market fluctuations.
But it is these locations that are the country's coolest property markets. Price tags in London compared with the English average have been falling since January 2016, when
the capital's premium hit a peak of 135 per cent above the rest of the country, according to Hamptons.
Demand for homes in prime central locations has plummeted in recent years.
The coolest property market in the country was the City of London. The average price of homes sold here sunk 8.7 per cent from £840,636 in the year to September 2024 to £767,210 this year. Meanwhile, the number of properties sold dropped by 37 per cent year-on-year.
Slump: The coolest property market was the City of London where the average price of homes sunk 8.7% from £840,636 in the year to September 2024 to £767,210 this year
The price of homes sold in the political district the City of Westminster plummeted 8.8 per cent to £998,754 and transactions fell by 23.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, Kensington and Chelsea, one of London's most affluent neighbourhoods, saw property prices drop 3.7 per cent to just under £1.35million. However, 28.4 per cent fewer homes were sold.
Experts blame Labour's tax raids on wealth.
High-net-worth individuals are fleeing the country, and overseas buyers – who normally compete to snap up swathes of London rental properties and flats – are staying away, they say.
Foreign buyers who already own a home elsewhere now face both the 5pc stamp duty second home surcharge and the 2 per cent non-resident surcharge on top of standard rates. On a £2million home purchase, this would mean a stamp duty bill of £293,750.
Buying agent Henry Pryor says: 'It's got to the point where buyers could rent for three or four years just for the price of stamp duty.'
Plus, these fashionable areas are likely to see increasingly dampened demand in the coming years as a mansion tax will be slapped on homes worth more than £2million in April 2028, a high number of which are in affluent London neighbourhoods.
The annual levy will be £2,500 for those worth up to £2.5million and up to £7,500 on homes worth more than £5million.
Savills this week reported prime central London properties have shed a quarter of their values since 2014. A spokesman at the upmarket estate agency said: 'Despite tax changes being 'better
than feared', demand remains thin on the ground in more rarefied prime central London postcodes, with the pool of buyers already much shallower since the end of the non-dom regime.'
However, these ice-cold property markets open a door for savvy buyers to snap up a central London home for a bargain.
Outside of London, homes in the chichi Cotswold local authority sold for 5.8 per cent less last year, with sale prices falling to an average of £421,881. There were 13.9 per cent fewer transactions.
Down: Kensington and Chelsea, one of London's most affluent neighbourhoods and home to Kensington Palace, saw property price tags drop 3.7% to just under £1.35m
Where house prices will soar next
Leafy Somerset and Dorset towns
House prices in the South of England have enjoyed exponential growth over the past decade but experts say this has slowed dramatically. Homeowners should not expect to see such rapid growth in their neighbourhood any time soon.
But there are two areas expected to soar in demand come January – and see a healthy growth in house prices too.
Desire for homes in leafy Somerset and Dorset is expected to explode in 2026 as affluent families who want a countryside lifestyle are priced out of the trendy Cotswolds.
Dorset and Somerset were both labelled 'normal' in our analysis, with marginal house price growth in the year to October at 1 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively.
But our special online tool reveals smaller neighbourhoods within the areas had hot property markets. In Somerset these include Taunton Halcon and Monkton Heathfield, Midsomer Norton North, and Bishop's Hull and Norton Fitzwarren.
Pockets of Dorset running hot include Sturminster Marshall & Crichel alongside Lyme Regis, Charmouth & Marshwood Vale.
Anthony Pears, who heads Jackson-Stops' Sherborne branch, in north-west Dorset, says he has seen a steady rise in demand in the market town since the pandemic as families have been able to work from home. He adds: 'The quality of life is excellent around here and there are also brilliant schools.
'There are many lovely villages nearby with an array of honey coloured stone, like the Cotswolds – just a bit more affordable.'
Sherborne – a market town with a population of around 10,000 – has a lively high street that has seen an array of new openings and has plenty of independent shops.
'There's a lot more energy here and more people pushing prams,' Mr Pears says.
It is just two hours from London with a direct train line for families needing to pop back to the capital to see friends or attend meetings. Those driving can expect the journey to be around two hours and 40 minutes. Bath is around one hour away, too.
This year, Sherborne was labelled 'normal' on our scale of property markets. While the number of transactions fell dramatically, prices of homes sold still soared.
The average property sold for £325,000 in the year to September, up from £292,500 the year before – more than an 11 per cent increase.
Mr Pears expects phones to ring off the hook in the New Year as pent-up demand is released.
Plus, the area is popular with families who have seen school fees climb by as much as 20 per cent following January's VAT introduction and are looking for cheaper areas to live in order to offset the price increase.
He insists the area has sensibly priced properties. Buyers with a £400,000 budget can snap up a cosy Grade-II listed four-bedroom cottage or a three-bedroom townhouse.
Manchester and Liverpool
More desirable homes in the centre of Northern cities Manchester and Liverpool are set to be the big winners next year, as development in the city centres pulls in new buyers.
Mr Fell, of estate agents Hamptons, says: 'We're going to see more growth in Manchester. Manchester and Liverpool are very different to what they were ten to 15 years ago. They have seen house price growth because they are more desirable to live in than they used to be.'
Jonathan Handford, of Fine and Country, expects there to be few, if any, places that can be labelled as hotspots. However, he does say major regional cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and even Birmingham will continue to stand out.
He says: 'If you look at where the momentum is building for 2026, it's clearly in the major regional cities. They still offer a combination of affordability, strong local economies, population growth and large-scale regeneration.'
Manchester has seen swathes of development in the city centre and surrounding areas, which has lured young professionals from the capital.
One of the most notable areas is Castlefield, south-west Manchester, which has been transformed from a derelict space into a thriving area with plenty of bars, restaurants and new apartments.
Now, attention turns to Victoria North – a brownfield site near Manchester Victoria station – where 15,000 new homes will be built in the coming decade.
Plus, there is strong rental demand in the city, which is pulling in overseas investors and driving up property prices. Mr Fell says droves of investors are buying new flats off plan now while they anticipate increased demand in several years' time.
The Manchester local authority was labelled as 'cold' in our analysis. But when we drilled down into individual neighbourhood's Whalley Range North – a leafy suburb just outside the city centre – was 'very hot'.
Sales there climbed by 14 per cent, while sold prices surged by almost 40 per cent to £312,500.
Meanwhile, Liverpool continues to be a popular spot among students and young families and was a 'hot' contender in this year's market. Our calculator revealed Everton East is the hottest property neighbourhood in the city.
Cheshire Golden Triangle bounce-back
Home to footballers and musicians, the affluent Cheshire Golden Triangle – which stretches from leafy Wilmslow to Prestbury village and Alderley Edge – is expected to see a surge in demand as buyers continue to compete for the limited housing stock.
Crispin Harris, who runs Jackson-Stops' Alderley Edge office, says: 'After a strong start to 2025, the Cheshire Golden Triangle experienced the same pre-Budget slowdown this year as Manchester's high-end urban markets.
This hesitancy set in from July as speculation around the Budget began unusually early this year.'
And the figures tell a dire story. Our calculator reveals Alderley Edge had a 'cold' market this year after transactions fell by 9.8 per cent and price tags fell from £612,500 in the year to September 2024 to £560,000 in 2025.
But there is room for growth. In fact, the estate agency expects the triangle to be one of 2026's rising stars as the glamour of the leafy suburbs continues to be a draw.
Demand is already picking up with the branch processing £20million in offers since the Budget and it expects to be even busier as wealthier buyers who paused their plans until the New Year return to market.
There is also an array of good state schools for families looking to avoid hikes to private school fees. For £700,000, buyers can secure a three-bedroom, two-bathroom Victorian terrace in Alderley Edge or a or a three-bedroom detached in Wilmslow.
Mortgage rates have risen substantially over recent years, meaning that those remortgaging or buying a home face higher costs.
That makes it even more important to search out the best possible rate for you and get good mortgage advice, whether you are a first-time buyer, home owner or buy-to-let landlord.
Quick mortgage finder links with This is Money's partner L&C
You can compare fixed rate lengths, from two-year fixes, to five-year fixes and ten-year fixes.
If you’re ready to find your next mortgage, why not use This is Money and L&C’s online Mortgage Finder. It will search 1,000’s of deals from more than 90 different lenders to discover the best deal for you.
Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
